THE WELKER CANE IS ADDICTING AND FUN

It's been over a month since I've done clay and today I decided I was tired of beading so I got out my clay.

 Every where you go on the internet the Bettina Welker Pixelated Retro Cane is showing up. http://www.beadworx.de/2012/07/03/the-pixelated-retro-blend-cane/   I have three extruders and they were begging to get used.  So, I thought I would give it a try.

 

This is the first one I did.  I used white, brown, yellow, turquoise, light green and 14 karat gold with a the black discs in between.

 

Once I made the cane, I cut a slice off that was about 1/8th of an inch and I ran it through the pasta machine first on a number one and then turned it one quarter and went to number two and turned it a quarter and put it through on number 3.  I made a sheet of black and ran it through on the number four.  Laid my cane on the sheet and started cutting it by hand.  It was big and I wasn't sure where I was going.  I lost a little of the gold on the bottom but not bad.

 

 

There was an opening down the middle so I added a line of black and some squares and put smaller pieces on those.  I purchased a pack of hamburger patty papers from Smart and Final.  One side has wax on it.  These papers are great for polymer clay.  I laid the paper over the pendant and rubbed it to get rid of the finger prints, embed the smaller pieces and round the sides down.  I baked it for an hour at 265 degrees.  I sanded it but differently.  Instead of starting at 400 and working up, I started at 1000 and worked up.  1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, this worked really well and there were no gouges.

Now I want to make beads to go with it so I can make a necklace.

 

That cane is really fun and addicting.  I had all the clay out so I made another one but this time I cut it in half at the width and put it together again.

 

 

These canes are really beautiful when they are run through the pasta machine and each small section takes on it's own identity.

 

Last night my husband took me out for my birthday and then we went to a casino for mental therapy.  He parked in an area where there were no cars.  I opened my door when the car stopped and started to get out and a big SUV came flying up and hit the door.  I almost had a heart attack.  If it had been one minute later I would have been standing where this big SUV came flying in.  My door left a big scrape on his car and his car undid the bottom panel on the door on my side of the car.  He acted like he was crying when he saw the damage on his car and started yelling at me about looking before I get out of the car.  My husband told him we were parked and my door was open when he drove up and it was pretty obvious that it was his fault and that we should call the sheriff.  He really backed down and said he would take care of the damage himself if we would.  With insurance being what it is now, we decided to do that.  He ran away as fast as he could and that's when my sweet husband said "Don't worry, s--t happens".

 

BUT, the reason I'm telling you this is so you will be careful getting out of cars AND my husband said if something like this happens again and he's not around, don't get out of the car, lock the doors, keep the windows closed and call the police.  Ladies, if you are alone and in a parking lot and something like this happens, don't be stupid.  Stay in the car, lock the doors and windows and call the police.



DON'T TOUCH MY KUMI LOOM

After spending two weeks in Wisconsin and Chicago, I can't get myself back into clay.  I made the mistake of leaving my Kumihimo loom and beads out and the beading end of the work table has been busy.  I have to push myself over to the clay end of the work table.  Your asking WHAT????????????

Well, I have an 8 foot work table in my office and the right side is dedicated to clay and the left side to beading.

It really comes in handy when my friends and I have clay day here because two people can sit there very comfortably. 

Since I've been back, I've only been working on the left side of table.  The right side is covered with finished pendants.  One of the bead stores near us has been selling my pendants for the last three years.  I feel so bad, they went out of business last Tuesday and won't be reopening again.  The price of rent and repairs on the space they used got to be too much for them.  People ordering on the internet and from China have made a big dent in their business and all other small businesses around the country.  Anyway, I need to finish a few necklaces for the pendants because I'm going to donate them to a benefit for The Arizona Small Dog Rescue in November.  That right end of the table is calling my name though.

My Kumihimo disk looks like it's been through the mill but it serves me well.  I've been making bracelets with some of the millions of beads I have here.



I've put these on Artfire and Etsy and I noticed there are many Kumihimo bracelets on there but their prices are really high compared to what I priced mine at.

Now that I'm writing this, I think I'll finish what's on my left side and start making a mess on my right side.  Does that make me left brained or right brained?

Tomorrow is Buster's birthday.  They said he was born sometime around the last two weeks of August so I thought Buster and I should share a birthday.  This was one of my favorite pictures of him when he was a baby.  He loved getting in the garbage can.  We are going to have a 9 Lives Birthday cake and a couple glasses of wine.

A Day Late and a Bracelet Short

In two days I'm leaving for Wisconsin and Chicago for two weeks.  I had planned to take a ton of jewelry with me so I could give it as gifts or sell it.  Needless to say, I've spent so much time watching the Olympics I didn't get everything done that I wanted to.  I'm barely packed and I want to clean the house before I leave so John doesn't have to do anything while I'm gone except take care of Buster and that's a hand full.

I LOVE KUMIHIMO

I really don't like stringing beads for pendants that I've done in polymer clay.  Kumihimo can be done with or without beads.

This a Randee Ketzel pendant that I did from her tutorial and I wanted something a little more sedate as far as the colors.  It looks different in the picture than it does in the hand.  Now I'm not sure I like the quiet colored necklace.  My sister will give me her opinion whether I want it or not.  LOL

Haven't decided if I like the twisted silver wire wrap on this yet or not.  Looks Southwestern but it covers the pendant.    I like the cord.

Kumihimo bracelets done with white pearl Megatamas and AB crystals.  I need 5 more and here I am posting.  DUH.

My friend Evelyn has a new grand baby.  Her name is Ashlyn and her room is nautical.

This entire fish is made of polymer clay.  It's going to be a wall hanging.  She uses a lot of things for textures.  Can you see the fish fins are made of hearts?  I think this is adorable.

Have a good two weeks.  I'll be back the 14th of August.  I'll be missing my polymer and beads.  OH YEAH, going to miss John and Buster too.  It better cool off back there.  I've had enough heat to last me a long time.



IT'S BEEN A WHILE

It's been a while since I've blogged, not lazy, busy or is it dizzy?????  Had to make a bunch of stuff for my sister for her birthday.  Someday I'll make something that fits or that she likes.  NOT.

I have this problem, I like making things, but I don't like finishing things.  I finally finished a piece. 

I love doing Kumihimo but it doesn't always fit everything I make.  This time, I made a smaller rope and added the beads on the top.  They are really smooth so it lays really nice.  I was worried about the wire being rough.

GP OBSESSION

  Remember I said I had an obsession with Guilders Paste.  Here it is.  I need a 12 step program.  I have all of them but white.  Maybe I should get the white.  YOU THINK?????

I'm going to Wisconsin for two weeks and I'm putting a trap on my Guilders Paste.  Don't even think about touching it.  Tee hee hee.

  This was done with black clay and the Patina Guilders Paste.

I don't normally like this kind of piece but when I saw this mold, I really liked it.

Not sure what I'm going to hang it on.

Don't touch my Guilders Paste.

A GUILDERS PASTE OBSESSION

A couple years ago when my BFF's and I were in Tucson taking Christi Friesen classes, my friend Evelyn bought this stuff called Guilders Paste.  I looked at it and wondered "What the hell is she going to do with that stuff and why is it so expensive for a little tin?".  Well, about 8 months ago she made a piece with Guilders Paste on it and it was beautiful.  So, I ordered some of my own and in the last month it has become one of my favorite polymer clay adornments.

Yesterday we had a clay day here and naturally the Guilders Paste came out.  Not only that, we found a place on Artfire and bought more.  Between the three of us we ordered 14 more cans.  OCD, yes that's the disease with the Guilders Paste.  We made pendants from a technique that we did accidentally about 2 years ago and I took one of mine and textured it and put Guilders Paste on it.

The top right one turned out green and orange and I wasn't crazy about the colors so I added the Inca Gold GP on it.

This is the other side of the pendants.  I did the texturing on the top right one with some of Helen Breil's texture sheets which I love and then put the Inca Gold on both sides.

The left and bottom pendant are combinations of many different colors of clay.  I sanded and buffed both of these.  The one with the GP was hand buffed and I'll probably put a glaze of some kind on to protect the paste.

This is Evelyn's pendant before it was baked.  I love the colors in this one.  The orange just makes it pop.  She also did a long one that I forgot to take a picture of.  Will get it when she comes over.  It was gorgeous.

This is Rose's first pendant before it was baked.  Love these colors.  Can't wait to see it when it's done.

This was Rose's second pendant that she did with a different twist but same technique.

This was a transfer I did of a black cat.  AGAIN, I used silver GP on it and should have done that after I put the resin on the cat.  Got spots of silver on the poor cat.  It actually looks like glitter in person.  I hope Buster and my better half stay out of the way when the Guilders Paste is out or they are going to end up wearing Inca Gold and Silver.  LOL